Spatial and spectral investigation of turbulent kinetic energy in cavitating flow generated by Clark-Y hydrofoil

Abstract

In the present paper, the turbulent cavitating flow generated by a Clark-Y hydrofoil is investigated by large eddy simulation (LES) combined with Zwart-Gerber-Belamri (ZGB) cavitation model. In order to shed light on the influence of cavitation on turbulent energy distribution among scales, energy spectrum obtained from the three-dimensional velocity field is firstly applied to turbulent cavitating flow. Spatial and spectral distributions of turbulent kinetic energy are studied for both non-cavitating flow and cavitating flow. Cavitation is found to have a significant effect on the original turbulent flow by inducing more large-scale turbulent structures. The energy spectrum of cloud cavitating flow also experiences a periodic evolution as cavitation develops, and a large amount of turbulent kinetic energy is found to generate as the first shedding, cutoff and second shedding of cavities happen.